


A Good Man's Doing

by Constellation



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Gen, pointless snippet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-27
Updated: 2014-04-27
Packaged: 2018-01-21 01:16:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1532243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Constellation/pseuds/Constellation
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor is feeling down and being philosophical. Tea might help, Clara thinks. Tea and a talk.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Good Man's Doing

He was sitting in the doorframe, his long legs dangling in the outer space, when Clara walked up to him, a steaming mug of black tea in her hands.

“Doctor?”

He looked up and gave the mug in her hands a questioning look.

“I made you tea,” Clara said, sitting down behind him and handing him the mug. “Tea makes things better.”

“Thank you,” he said. Clara smiled weakly. Those were the first words he had said since he woke up after the regeneration.

“How you feeling?”

“Better with tea,” he answered before rising the mug to his lips. They sat in silence until he had emptied the mug, and then he sighed, staring out at the stars. “Am I good, Clara?”

She gave him a quizzical look. “What do you mean?”

“Do you think I’m a good man?”

“I think you’re wonderful.” She wrapped her arms around him and put her chin on his shoulder. “Absolutely wonderful.”

He gave her a small smile. His first smile since the regeneration. “How are you always this nice to me?”

“Because you’re the Doctor,” she said.

“Am I, now? Aren’t doctors meant to make people better?”

“You do make people better.”

“Not the previous me, no.”

She let go of him. “What are you talking about?”

“Look at it.” He pointed outside. “All of time and space. So many beings. And I’ve killed so many of them. I happily committed genocide. I made the whole human race commit genocide, to kill the Silence on sight. That is not a good man’s doing.”

“You did it for a good purpose.”

He shook his head. “No. I only thought I did. A few regenerations back I would have rather died myself than wipe out an entire species. Better a coward than a killer, I always thought. And then I turned into this—” he huffed angrily, stomping the tea mug on the floor, “—this maniac! A rude, trigger-happy, maniac… pig!”

Clara stayed quiet. She didn’t know what to say, and even if she had, she believed that right now the Doctor probably needed someone who would listen.

“All my life, I avoided doing unnecessary harm. And then I suddenly jump around and throw things at people, and,  and kill! Doctors don’t kill! I’m not a doctor, I’m a monster!”

At this point she leaned closer and wiped the fresh tears on his face. “You aren’t a monster,” she whispered.

“Yes, yes I am.” He got up on his feet and marched to the control panel, rubbing his eyes. “Doctor indeed. I don’t deserve that name anymore.”

“But now you admit it, don’t you?” she asked, jumping up and running after him. “Didn’t you say it yourself that when you can admit you did wrong it means you’re getting better?”

He stopped in his tracks and turned to stare at her. She stared back. “What?”

A shadow of a smile passed over his face as he mumbled, “Oh, Clara Oswald, you wonderful little human. Always seeing the best in everyone.”

She crossed her arms, frowning slightly. “Well,  Doctor , isn’t that what I’m here for?”

He smiled again. This time really. “Indeed.”

**Author's Note:**

> A Doctor that admits his mistakes is not one Moffat would write. I would like to see it nonetheless.


End file.
